Abstract
Cytologists interpret cells differently when features overlap with malignancy. The distinction between suspicious for malignancy (SFM) and malignant (MAL) depends on confidence in morphological and ancillary test findings, available clinical data and the experience of the reporting pathologist. This chapter provides an approach to this category with the option to issue a preliminary report of suspicious for malignancy (SFM) pending additional studies.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Davidson B, Firat P, Michael CW. Serous effusions: etiology, diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. 2nd ed. New York: Springer; 2018.
Chandra A, Cross P, Denton K, et al. The BSCC code of practice–exfoliative cytopathology (excluding gynecological cytopathology). Cytopathology. 2009;20(4):211–23.
Johnston WW. The malignant pleural effusion. A review of cytopathologic diagnoses of 584 specimens from 472 consecutive patients. Cancer. 1985;56(4):905–9.
Hsu C. Cytologic detection of malignancy in pleural effusion: a review of 5,255 samples from 3,811 patients. Diagn Cytopathol. 1987;3(1):8–12.
Raab SS. Significance of atypical cells in cytologic serous fluid specimens. Am J Clin Pathol. 1999;111(1):11–3.
Tabatabai ZL, Nayar R, Souers RJ, Crothers BA, Davey DD. Performance characteristics of body fluid cytology: analysis of 344,380 responses from the College of American Pathologists Interlaboratory Comparison Program in Nongynecologic Cytopathology. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2018;142(1):53–8.
Kurtycz DFI, Crothers BA, Schmitt F, Chandra A. International system for reporting serous fluid cytopathology: initial project survey. Acta Cytol. 2019;63(Suppl1):13. https://doi.org/10.1159/000500433.
Gupta S, Sodhani P, Jain S. Cytomorphological profile of neoplastic effusions: an audit of 10 years with emphasis on uncommonly encountered malignancies. J Cancer Res Ther. 2012;8:602–9.
Esteban JM, Yokota S, Husain S, Battifora H. Immunocytochemical profile of benign and carcinomatous effusions. A practical approach to difficult diagnosis. Am J Clin Path. 1990;94(6):698–705.
Tickman RJ, Cohen C, Varna VA, Fekete PS, DeRose PB. Distinction of carcinoma cells and mesothelial cells in serous effusions. Usefulness of immunohistochemistry. Acta Cytol. 1990;34(4):491–6.
Athanassiadou P, Kavantzas N, Davaris P, et al. Diagnostic approach of effusion cytology using computerized image analysis. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2002;21(1):49–56.
Bassen D, Nayak S, Li XC, et al. Clinical decision support system (CDSS) for the classification of atypical cells in pleural effusions. Procedia Computer Sci. 2013;20:379–84.
Antonangelo L, Rosolen D, Bottura G, et al. Cytology and DNA ploidy techniques in the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion. Eur Resp J. 2012;40:4625.
Kayser K, Blum S, Beyer M, Haroske G, Kunze KD, Meyer W. Routine DNA cytometry of benign and malignant pleural effusions by means of the remote quantitation server Euroquant: a prospective study. J Clin Pathol. 2000;53(10):760–4.
Illei PB, Ladanyi M, Rusch VW, Zakowski MF. The use of CDKN2A deletion as a diagnostic marker for malignant mesothelioma in body cavity effusions. Cancer Cytopathol. 2003;99(1):51–6.
Sundling KE, Cibas ES. Ancillary studies in pleural, pericardial, and peritoneal effusion cytology. Cancer Cytopathol. 2018;126(Suppl 8):590–8.
Das DK. Serous effusions in malignant lymphomas: a review. Diagn Cytopathol. 2006;34(5):335–47.
Czader M, Ali SZ. Flow cytometry as an adjunct to cytomorphologic analysis of serous effusions. Diagn Cytopathol. 2003;29(2):74–8.
Savvidou K, Dimitrakopoulou A, Kafasi N, et al. Diagnostic role of cytology in serous effusions of patients with hematologic malignancies. Diagn Cytopathol. 2019;47(5):404–11.
Bangerter M, Hildebrand A, Griesshammer M. Combined cytomorphologic and immunophenotypic analysis in the diagnostic workup of lymphomatous effusions. Acta Cytol. 2001;45(3):307–12.
Bode-Lesniewska B. Flow cytometry and effusions in lymphoproliferative processes and other hematologic neoplasias. Acta Cytol. 2016;60(4):354–64.
Mårtensson G, Pettersson K, Thiringer G. Differentiation between malignant and non-malignant pleural effusion. Eur J Respir Dis. 1985;67(5):326–34.
Farahani S, Baloch Z. Are we ready to develop a tiered scheme for the effusion cytology? A comprehensive review and analysis of the literature. Diagn Cytopathol. 2019;47(11):1145–59.
Valerio E, Nunes W, Cardoso J, et al. A 2-year retrospective study on pleural effusions: a cancer Centre experience. Cytopathology. 2019;30(6):607–13.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mikou, P., Engels, M., Roy-Chowdhuri, S., Santis, G. (2020). Suspicious for Malignancy (SFM). In: Chandra, A., Crothers, B., Kurtycz, D., Schmitt, F. (eds) The International System for Serous Fluid Cytopathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53908-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53908-5_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-53907-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-53908-5
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)